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Atlantida

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Pico Bonito National Park

Pico Bonito National Park is one of the largest national parks in Honduras. Located in the departments of Atlantida and Yoro, the park is in one of the most rugged terrains in Central America: the Nombre de Dios Mountains. These mountains run parallel to the Caribbean Sea, and rise vertically from sea level to over 8,000 feet above sea level, forming a seemingly  impenetrable green fortress. The park takes its name from the iconic triangular shaped peak called Pico Bonito. The peak was not conquered until the 1960’s and even today few people have made it to the top of this iconic landmark in La Ceiba. An expedition to the peak and back takes between 5 and 7 days, and if you are really up to this experience, I suggest you contact La Moskitia Ecoaventuras (www.lamoskita.hn)  to arrange the expedition for you.

Pico Bonito National Park borders are the Rio Santiaguito on the Western end of the Park and the Rio Cangrejal on the Eastern side of the Park, to the North the natural limit are the coastal flatlands between the sharp rise of the mountains and the sea, and to the south the general natural border is the Aguan Valley, a fertile valley that is located on the opposite side of the Nombre de Dios Mountains.

Because of is abrupt change in altitude, Pico Bonito National Park probably has the highest bio diversity in Central America, as it starts with a tropical rain forest on the northern lowlands that eventually turns into a tropical cloud forest in the upper elevations, then into a midget forest on the top, and the backside becomes a very dry tropical forest.  The park is home to the majestic Jaguar, the largest feline in the Americas, as well as to other endangered species such as the wild pecari, the largest mammal in Central America.

La Ceiba Hotels

Pico Bonito National Park is also home to some of the most beautiful tropical birds in the world! Keel billed toucans are an easy sight, and birds that are elusive, such as the lovely cotinga, an absolutely beautiful little blue bird are commonly seen in the area.

lovely cotinga at Pico Bonito National Park

Fortunately, it is quite easy to find lodging in Pico Bonito National Park and surrounding areas. Perhaps the most accessible area to find lodging in Pico Bonito National Park is the Cangrejal River Valley (www.cangrejalriver.com) This area is located just outside the City of La Ceiba, and offers the best of two National Parks in Honduras: Pico Bonito National Park and Nombre de Dios National Park!

From the Cangrejal River Valley it is easy to enter Pico Bonito National Park. There is a Visitors Center located on Km 8.8 of the La Ceiba to Yaruca dirt road. Here, a 400 foot long swinging bridge will give you an “Indiana Jones like” adventure crossing high over the Cangrejal River and bringing you to a network of trails into Pico Bonito National Park.

Best Tours in Pico Bonito National Park

Conveniently located only 200 meters from the Visitors Center, you will find La Villa de Soledad B&B, a lovely and unique boutique bed and breakfast that offers you both, the opportunity to explore Pico Bonito and Nombre de Dios National Parks, as well as a place to simply relax and enjoy nature and catch up with yourself. La Villa de Soledad is a family run eco lodge style property, with comfortable spacious rooms that open up to the great outdoors. Private bathrooms with hot water, and a covered porch that wraps around the Spanish colonial style building provides with many hammocks to relax and read your favorite book or to take a nap after one of the many activities that are available within the area.  Best of all, the friendly Honduran hospitality together with the fantastic home cooked meals available on premises will make you not want to leave! La Villa de Soledad B & B is probably the best deal in town to enjoy Pico Bonito National Park. Furthermore, Soledad and John are fully bilingual and will go out of their way to help you arrange tours and activities.

Pico Bonito National Park

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There are more and more travelers that are going places looking for unique beautiful birds to see, enjoy and add to their have seen list. Honduras has become ever so popular for those that are looking to spot unique species. Little by little, the word has gotten out that Honduras not only has many birds to be seen, they are also easy to see, there is a lovely countryside to enjoy and there are great facilities that provide great comfort while you set out on your quest of seeing that unique species you have no yet added to your list. Bird watching in Atlantida, which is on the Caribbean Coast of Honduras, is truly spectacular.

Atlantida is the name of a department which is becoming one of the most upbeat eco destinations in Central America, and it’s easy to see why: With 8 protected areas within a relatively small territory; bird watching in Atlantida offers a variety of habitats that you can combine into one single trip. The marine estuaries at the Cuero y Salado wildlife Refuge offer a magnificent opportunity to see both native and migratory species that are comfortable in a marine habitat.

In addition, you can enjoy a completely different scenario in the tropical rain forests of Pico Bonito National Park, where species that are native to the rain forests of Central America. One of the prized regular sightings in Pico Bonito National Park is the lovely cotinga, an absolutely beautiful blue bird that is easily seen the trails of Pico Bonito National Park, especially around the Lodge at Pico Bonito. Bird watching in Atlantida can be a magnificent experience, with many exotic birds easily seen from comfortable settings. The Lodge at Pico Bonito has some tall observation towers that are absolutely fantastic to see the birds that abound in the canopy of the tropical rain forest.

Bird watching in Atlantida

Bird watching in Atlantida is also fantastic along the Cangrejal River Valley, where you can enjoy your stay in one of the eco lodges along the Cangrejal River (www.cangrejalriver.com) Here, from the comfort of your hammock at places such as La Villa de Soledad B&B, you can spot several different species flying around the grounds and in the tree branches around our property.

Another fantastic place for bird watching in Atlantida is to be enjoyed at the Lancetilla Botanical Gardens, just outside the city of Tela. The gardens, that were originally part of an ongoing scientific research station by the Tela Railroad Company (Chiquita Banana), resulted in the second largest tropical botanical garden in the world. The huge variety of fruit trees in the area have attracted a massive number of birds who now use the grounds as their personal feeding station, allowing you to have a feast while bird watching in Atlantida.

Come to Atlantida and have a wonderful vacation while enjoying one of the most diverse bird watching destinations in the world! Bird watching in Atlantida will be a dream come true!

 

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Central America has long carved a niche in the ecotourism market. As a matter of fact, the term, ecotourism was coined in Central America. Today, there are many different destinations looking to get a piece of the action, and although Costa Rica is the leader without doubt, it is not necessarily the best option. Honduras has a magnificent selection of ecotourism options, and without doubt, Atlantida, the best ecotourism destination in Central America, has all of the ingredients for a perfect ecotourism vacation.

Best kept secret in the Caribbean

Atlantida, the best ecotourism destination in Central America offers 8 protected areas that are all close to each other. These National Parks and wildlife refuges are not only easy accessible and offered by tour operators, they are also very diverse between each other and are available at a fraction of what you would pay in Costa Rica!

For example, Atlantida, the best ecotourism destination in Central America offers World Class white water rafting on the Cangrejal River. Best of all is the fact that the put in at the river is only 45 minutes away from the airport, ferry terminal or any hotel in the city! If you prefer, you can even stay at a hotel within the Cangrejal River Valley and therefore simply walk to the put in! Such is the case at La Villa de Soledad B&B, a lovely boutique bed and breakfast and jungle eco lodge that is located on the Cangrejal River and within walking distance to the trails in Pico Bonito National Park. For a complete list of your options in the Cangrejal River Valley, visit www.cangrejalriver.com

Atlantida also offers outstanding reefs at the Cayos Cochinos Marine Monument, located just a few miles off the shore from Sambo Creek. There are daily tours departing to these magnificent kays, and you can either take a day tour or even spend a night in this pristine Caribbean Paradise.

Tela, the other large community that offers access to the protected areas in Atlantida offers lovely beaches, great Garifuna communities plus the opportunity to visit the second largest tropical botanical garden in the World: Lancetilla Gardens. There is also a magnificent reef that was recently discovered in the Bay of Tela that provides for outstanding diving in a very pristine location. Atlantida, the best ecotourism destination in Central America offers much more than you will see elsewhere! Best of all, it is affordable and not overrun by tourists! Come and visit Atlantida and see for yourself all that this destination has to offer!

 

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Atlantida, a magical land located between the rugged Nombre de Dios Mountains and the Caribbean Sea, is home to 8 protected areas within Honduras. You will not find a higher density of protected areas anywhere in Central America, not even Costa Rica, who markets itself as the Eco Tourism Mecca in the region.  Because of this high density of national parks Atlantida is home to a large percentage of eco jungle lodges in Honduras. There are many bed and breakfast in Atlantida, and many of these are within or very close to the protected areas of Atlantida.

La Villa de Soledad, the best bed and breakfast in Atlantida.

The highest concentration of bed and breakfast in Atlantida is located outside of the City of La Ceiba, mostly around the Pico Bonito National Park, but also around Nombre de Dios National Park. These parks are separated by the lovely Cangrejal River, and it is precisely in this area where you can find the highest concentration of bed and breakfast in Atlantida. For a list of all of the inns, hostels and bed and breakfast in this area, visit www.cangrejalriver.com

Here you will find unique lodging options and some of the nicest bed and breakfast in Atlantida. Such is the case of La Villa de Soledad B&B, a family run operation, built as a traditional Colonial Spanish Hacienda, it is quickly becoming one of the most popular bed and breakfast in Atlantida. Personalized attention, hands on assistance in arranging custom tours and activities, outstanding home cooked meals will make your stay here a most memorable one.

Atlantida offers a magnificent opportunity for a nature / adventure focused vacation, with a variety of options that go from hot springs to magnificent white water rafting to visiting a community whose culture has been designated an intangible cultural heritage by the UNESCO, the Garifuna Culture.

There are many options for bed and breakfast in Atlantida, and you can also find a list of them visiting tripadvisor at: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g292023-La_Ceiba_Atlantida_Department-Hotels.html Come and enjoy the best bed and breakfast in Atlantida!

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Did you know that diving in Atlantida is not only possible but absolutely great?

Diving in Atlantida? The majority of tourists that visit the Bay Islands of Honduras have one big reason to go there: diving! Utila has become famous worldwide due to the fact that it is considered the most affordable destination in the World to get certified as a diver; in other words there is no less expensive destination to get your certification as a diver! Roatan is not far behind in prices, especially in the West End area, where there are many different dive shops that are competing for your business, usually by dropping their prices! If you are just looking to get certified, then the Islands are certainly your best option, however, if you are a serious diver, looking for unique reefs, then you should probably look a bit further, and you will find that Atlantida could be a great spot to do some different, unique diving!

Diving in Atlantida offers two distinct products, one at each end of the department. Within the Bay of Tela, a reef was recently discovered that has gotten raving reviews. Nobody knew it was there, so it had not been fished, dived, or had boats full of tourists throwing their anchors into the reef so that hordes of tourists or divers could explore the reef… The reef, which has been called Capiro Reef, offers the best reef off mainland Honduras, it is teeming with life, and is just a short boat ride from the town of Tela. There are a couple of operators that provide service here, the easiest one to get in touch with is the Tela Dive Center. Their headquarters are located within the Hotel Marsol, which is on the main entrance to Tela, a couple of blocks before the beach. (www.teladivecenter.com)

In the La Ceiba area, the diving takes place in Cayos Cochinos. To get to Cayos Cochinos, known in English as the Hog Cays, you must go to Sambo Creek. One of the tour operators that provides regular tour service to Cayos Cochinos is Tourist Options, they are located at the Turicentro Sambo Creek which is right on the beach at Sambo Creek. Cayos Cochinos is considered part of the Meso American Barrier Reef, which is the most biodiverse reef in the World! Cayos is so absolutely unique that the Smithsonian institute actually partnered in conducting investigations on the reef several years ago! There is even a boutique dive resort in Cayos Cochinos that offers diving packages to travelers who are serious about diving. The Turtle Bay Eco Resort is located on the bigger of the two islands and has all inclusive (rooms, meals and diving) packages. (www.turtlebayecoresort.com ). So now you know the different options for diving in Atlantida!